Chapter 59 …
“Have you been in touch with Seowoo lately? You didn’t fight or anything, right? Your relationship didn’t go sour?”
“I’m busy enough just working—why would I go out of my way to contact him? And it’s not like I have the leisure to pick fights with a kid. I did run into him briefly when I was with Kwon Asol, though.”
“Yeah, I can imagine how that went without even seeing it. Then can I ask what makes you so confident that Seowoo will keep training under you?”
“Do you really need to ask that?”
Baek Gyeon frowned, answering in a voice utterly devoid of doubt.
“There’s no hunter in Korea who can teach Kwon Seowoo better than I can. That fact alone gives him more than enough reason to choose me.”
The rumor that Baek Gyeon had his eye on Kwon Seowoo had been widespread in the hunter world ever since the day the siblings first awakened.
A B-rank artificially awakened hunter who appeared less than a month before the hunter exam.
It was obvious he would be a hassle, yet Baek Gyeon personally took Seowoo in and trained him. It was something the usual Baek Gyeon would never have done—but in the end, Seowoo completed his official rank promotion in one go, proving that Baek Gyeon’s eye for talent hadn’t been wrong.
Even so, during the scouting period that followed, Kwon Seowoo didn’t receive a single offer. Some seasoned hunters, including Shin Dorim, had already guessed the reason.
‘With rumors flying that Gyeon was going to take him, they probably figured there was no benefit in poking the hornet’s nest. And Gyeon must’ve thought Seowoo would obviously come to him.’
But then Kwon Seowoo ended up entering Baekyeom along with Kwon Asol. Rather than being angry at Han Jaehyun for scouting the siblings—
“What really bothers you is that Seowoo chose Han Jaehyun’s backing instead of yours, isn’t it? I’ve been curious about this for a while, Gyeon. Why are you so obsessed with Seowoo? I know you’re trying to deal with Jin—no, Najin—but going this far…”
“The only ability that can neutralize Najin is Kwon Seowoo’s nullification. No matter how strong a hunter you bring in, you can’t take Najin down unless you shut the gate itself. Don’t you remember what happened in Gangbuk?”
“…I remember.”
At the sudden mention of Gangbuk, Shin Dorim’s expression darkened. After hesitating for a moment, he asked again.
“Then what about Asol?”
“People don’t usually consider an option with that much risk to be a solution. Kwon Asol is like a double-edged sword.”
“…”
“If we want to catch Najin without getting cut ourselves, we need Kwon Seowoo. And I’m the only one who can raise Seowoo to a level comparable to Najin. That’s why I can’t understand why they’d waste his talent like this.”
At present, Baek Gyeon was the only hunter capable of fighting Najin—the terrorist—on equal footing.
The long years they’d spent together at close range had taught him every minor habit Najin had.
How he moved in combat, what he did before attacking, what kind of situation you had to push him into to gain the upper hand.
“Gyeon. That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking why you’re reacting this strongly about Asol.”
But that still wasn’t the answer Shin Dorim wanted to hear. He pressed on.
“If, like you say, you don’t intend to treat Asol as an ally, then just do what you always do—oppose him, stay on guard, go over there and threaten him. But you’re not doing that right now.”
“Kwon Asol is the strongest motivation that moves Kwon Seowoo.”
The reply came instantly.
“Kwon Seowoo wants to grow stronger because of Kwon Asol. Because he knows that Asol can only live a normal life if Najin is killed. I don’t know why he made such a stupid choice even knowing that. And…”
Rummaging through his pocket, Baek Gyeon casually pressed the call button. He muttered in a low, almost absent-minded voice.
“Rather than leaving him alone and letting useless people swarm around him, it might actually be better for Kwon Asol to be on this side.”
“What?”
“The power is off. After the beep—”
“And yet here I am, coming out like this without even knowing what I’m thinking.”
“…Where are you going this time?!”
Baek Gyeon didn’t bother answering. He simply stood up with an ominous smile.
Shin Dorim rose after him, raising his voice—a rare occurrence—but stopped short at Baek Gyeon’s next words.
“I’m not going to see Han Jaehyun, so you go back to the office and get some sleep. Unless you want to show your kid brother that swollen face of yours.”
* * *
After accidentally overhearing the shocking relationship between Kwon Seowoo and Baek Gyeon, I was confused for a moment—but quickly pulled myself together.
‘In the original story, Baek Gyeon was worried about his junior, Kwon Seowoo… no, more like he wanted to work him hard. Anyway, that’s why he followed them into the dungeon to give advice from the sidelines.’
But now that their relationship was torn apart like my mental state, Baek Gyeon wouldn’t be showing up in the dungeon.
Which meant we could clear it without worrying about the mana stone getting smashed.
‘And with the dungeon raid coming up in just a day or two, trying to half-heartedly repair their relationship would probably just double the problems….’
So we’d deal with their wrecked relationship after we got out of the dungeon. For now, we needed to prepare for the labyrinth dungeon.
‘If the four of us are going to take down a large magical beast, we need to be properly equipped. But we’re meeting at the training ground tomorrow anyway, so that’s fine.’
With that thought, I reached a conclusion. What we needed now was—
‘How do we get out of this labyrinth with as little wandering as possible?!’
Exactly. A strategy for clearing this disgustingly huge maze.
As I’d said, the concept of this dungeon was a gigantic labyrinth. The moment you entered, towering walls surrounded you on all sides, and of course, there were no signposts or guides.
As a result, if luck wasn’t on your side, raid members would end up wandering in circles for days on end, without knowing where the center of the maze was—or even which direction they were heading….
For reference, in the original story, the protagonist’s team wandered through the maze for three whole days. Maybe because there was literally nothing to do besides getting lost, the author kindly summarized those three days in one go.
[—Three days later—]
What the hell, are you kidding me?
‘That’s way too much skipping.’
Honestly, every Korean work of fiction should start with a full worldbuilding info dump, just in case some poor reader ends up reincarnated into it someday.
‘Was there really no other explanation? Walls, walls, walls… and traps that popped up out of nowhere, I guess.’
I dug through my memory as hard as I could, but that really was all there was.
Even the way the protagonists cleared the maze was simply: “They wandered around like idiots for three days.”
‘We can’t afford to waste three whole days in this dungeon.’
There wasn’t even a hint of foreshadowing about a dungeon strategy in the original, but I couldn’t give up hope.
‘If this crazy author liked stuffing pointless details into things and keeping them all to himself, then maybe—just maybe—he hid a secret strategy for this dungeon too?’
Considering he’d kept even major plotlines like the Shinga and Baek family histories entirely in his own head, it was definitely possible. I pulled out my phone and started searching immediately.
‘Labyrinth of the Minotaur. Labyrinth of the Minotaur….’
[Comments]
– Why the hell would you go into that useless Hwaseong City dungeon? ㅇㅅㅇ You’ve got too much time
– Leave it alone, apparently maze-solving is their hobby
[Title] I dreamed I went to clear the new Hwaseong City dungeon Minotaur’s—what????;;
“Agh! Write this kind of crap in your diary or something!!”
What kind of dungeon is this, where all you get from searching are complaints and question posts?! Gritting my teeth, I kept searching anyway.
[Interview] Hwaseong Dungeon No. 23 — ‘The Labyrinth of the Minotaur’: What Kind of Place Was It?
Views: 8
‘Oh?’
At last, I unearthed an article from a local newspaper.
And the next morning.
“Everyone, gather up.”
“Huh?”
The team members who’d assembled at the training ground all turned to look at me.
“I’ve been thinking about this dungeon….”
* * *
“Yeah, that actually sounds pretty convincing. But will it really work?”
“There’s definitely a good chance. And even if it fails, there’s no penalty.”
“Right. So like you said, we just need to find this thing, yeah? Let’s try it!”
Thankfully, the team accepted my explanation without much doubt.
Right after that, we began full-scale preparations for entering the dungeon.
“Food! We don’t know how many days we might be stuck inside, so pack compact emergency rations!”
“Emergency escape items—and potions too, just in case.”
“Do we need clothes and toiletries as well?!”
“What is this, a picnic?”
It seemed everyone had learned something from the Gyeongbokgung incident. This time, we prepared thoroughly for the dungeon entry.
Using the dungeon raid as an excuse, we received various equipment and items from Baekyeom, and rechecked our pre-established plan several times.
But above all else, the thing I obsessed over most was—
Weapons.
“Strong weapons! Pick the strongest ones possible!”
“Huh? But isn’t this dungeon supposed to have no magical beasts?”
“Well, yeah, but you never know. Better to bring them and not need them than regret not bringing them.”
“That makes sense. So what should we take? There are too many options….”
“Something that can fight magical beasts, but won’t destroy everything around us with a single swing… A weapon where subtle strength and softness coexist?”
Yeomyeong’s expression turned oddly complex at my words, but I’d honestly thought as hard as I could, so I wasn’t ashamed.
‘This should be perfect.’
This time, we’d prepared as much as humanly possible.
And since the dungeon had a reputation for being empty, no one else had attempted to raid it—so we should’ve been the only ones gathered in front of the dungeon…
“Hunter Baek Gyeon! What made you suddenly decide to raid an E-rank dungeon?”
“We heard you personally trained Hunter Kwon Seowoo—is this an extension of nurturing your juniors?”
“Hey, what are you doing? You said you were raiding a dungeon. Are you just going to stand there?”
What greeted us at the dungeon entrance was Baek Gyeon—surrounded by reporters, casually turning his gaze toward us.
